Stocks start 2013 with broad gains

For at least the first day of trading, 2013 is proving to be a very good year.

Investors ushered in the New Year by piling into stocks Wednesday, cheering U.S. lawmakers' ability to reach a last minute deal to avert the fiscal cliff.

"What's been hanging over the markets for the last couple of months has finally been released," said Sean Kelly, a managing director at Knight Capital Group. "The rally today is 100% about the end of the fiscal cliff, and people are buying with both hands."

Oil and gold prices rallied too. The dollar, however, was mixed, gaining against the yen but weakening against the euro and British pound.

As investors shifted into riskier assets, safe havens, such as U.S. Treasuries, sold off, with the yield on the 10-year note rising to 1.84% -- a level not seen since mid-October.

Debt ceiling hangover may hurt

Investors cheered the late-night deal reached by the House that keeps the Bush tax cuts in place for most Americans, but raises the tax rate on individuals earning more than $400,000 and married couples earning over $450,000.

Investors ignored the downside to the deal, including Congress' failure to tackle automatic spending cuts, which are now set to go into effect March 1. Additional -- and perhaps more intractable -- challenges remain. Congress must soon raise the debt ceiling, and figure out plans for the postponed spending cuts and the federal budget.

The first day of 2013 rally followed a New Year's Eve rally that gave all three indexes yearly gains between 7% and 16%. Major global markets were closed Tuesday for the New Year's holiday,

Investors also got some good economic news Wednesday. The Institute for Supply Management's monthly manufacturing index showed activity rebounded in December. But investors shrugged off the Census Bureau's data on construction spending, which showed a decrease of 0.3% in November. Analysts had predicted a 0.5% increase.

In company news, Avis Budget Group(CAR) announced it will acquire Zipcar for $12.25 a share -- a 49% premium over its closing price on Monday. Zipcar (ZIP) shares rose nearly 48%.

Shares of Dole Food(DOLE) tumbled 13%, after the company lowered its earnings and sales forecasts for the year, blaming a difficult economic environment for its fresh fruit business.

Shares of LinkedIn(LNKD) dropped nearly 2%, after it was downgraded by analysts at Barclays.